Displacement

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

She woke to silence the next morning. When she became fully aware, she realized the sun was high indeed, and she had not heard Teddy yet. She got up and ran to the nursery, sure something was wrong. He was gone. She ran down the stairs, through the house, and hard into a masculine form in the kitchen. She backed up and looked into Severus's face.

"Teddy is gone! Someone has taken him."

"Hush, it's okay," he said. His arms went around her and pulled her close. "I missed you after you left." He tilted his head to kiss her ear. "We'll have to learn how to spend the whole night together."

"Severus, he's my grandson, all I have left of my daughter..." She tried to keep control over her voice.

He put his fingertip on her lips. "Molly Weasley has him. Yesterday I wrote and asked her to watch him for the day. I saw that you were sleeping this morning, and I took him over there."

She stood in her kitchen, crisis ended, and caught her breath. "You did that, without asking me?"

"I was hoping to take you on a couple of errands with me today. The first one is at the Ministry, and then I thought we could spend some time together on Diagon Alley." His eyes captured hers. "It's of the utmost importance to me."

Her look of loss and confusion became a blush and a smile. "If you would like me."

"That's why I asked." He looked at her with a smirk. "Of course, you may wish to change your attire. Lovely as you look, I'm not sure you want to show what I've seen to other wizards."

All she had on was her dressing gown. She had hastily pulled it around herself as she had run through the house. She hadn't even tied it, holding it together as she ran. She gasped and looked up shyly. "I'll need a few minutes."

He took her to the Ministry of Magic Registry Office.

"Andromeda," he said, "I want you to understand how much this means to me and how much I admire you. I brought you here so we could exchange vows. I know you're troubled by our relationship, and I don't want you to think I don't respect you. This isn't some casual affair for me; I want to get married."

She was unprepared for the rush of emotions that would come to her at such a declaration. There were joy and pleasure... and dismay. "I don't think it's the best idea," she said.

His hand went to her chin, and he tipped her face up to meet his eyes. "It's what I want."

"But how will it fit in with the plans for your future?

"It fits them perfectly." She was positive that he knew all he had to do was look at her with those eyes glowing in that way to get anything he wanted.

"If you're absolutely sure," she answered uncertainly. "This is really something you want?"

"I have the contract ready." He handed it to her.

She read through it, looking for specific items. Then she reached for a quill and crossed out sections. "I don't need these assurances from you," she said with a sad smile.

He looked through the parchment and saw that she had removed clauses designed to make marriage difficult to dissolve. "Are you sure you trust me so much?"

She looked at the artificial window. "I know exactly what I'm getting from this."

He would ponder what she meant by that later. He set the documents aside and reached into a pocket. "I don't know how my mother happened to have them, but these are my grandparents' rings. Do you mind using them?"

They were the same except in size. Both rings were made to look like intertwining snakes in yellow gold and rose gold. "They're beautiful."

"There wasn't time to purchase anything new, but we can if you prefer."

"Oh, no, somehow these are perfect." There was something suitable in rings that would remind her that she and he were both Slytherins. Each would have an agenda within this marriage.

Yet somehow, as he slid the smaller ring on her finger, whispering, "I plight my heart, my hands, and my wand to thee," there was something in his eye that made her wonder. What if this was real? Of course it was real, at least for the moment. What if the passion in his eyes was forever? Her own voice was hoarse and her eyes filled with emotion as she repeated the vow and placed the ring on his finger. His hand trembled within hers; what was going through his mind and heart?

When the officiator pronounced them married, Severus did not wait for permission. His hands tilted her head toward his, and he kissed her tenderly but eagerly. The bursts of magical sparks and lights startled them, and she broke away. It hadn't been like that with Ted. They watched in awe as the magic took several minutes to dissipate.

The officiator smiled kindly. "I haven't seen quite that reaction to the Nuptial Charm in a long while. Most couples who come to me are not entirely pleased to get married. I can tell that you two will be happy together for years."

Andromeda looked at Severus with troubled eyes. He pulled her close and laughed delightedly, kissing her again. In the face of his happiness, she allowed herself to relax and smile, too.

From that moment, the day was enchanted for him. He had his own bride, who looked at him as though he'd hung the moon. The quiet dinner he had arranged in Diagon Alley went pleasantly, and the afternoon and night promised to be nothing short of magical. He smiled and laughed as again and again he reached to kiss her hand or her cheek. Andromeda looked up at him and couldn't keep from smiling back.

When they returned to the cottage, Severus led her to the bedroom he had been using. As the door shut, he looked at her in question. "Is this acceptable? I want you to enjoy this, too." He had swept her along with the energy of the day. Was he wrong to do so?

This was the moment when Andromeda should turn away. She had changed the contract, but perhaps she should have the marriage undone now. She should stop everything and start the life of loneliness she would eventually have.

It wasn't a serious consideration. Since the officiator had said the charm over them, her whole body had yearned for him. "Yes, Severus." She raised herself up on tiptoe and offered him her lips. "I'm yours for as long as you want me."

Groaning, he pulled her close and started kissing her. He undressed her and started caressing her with delicate touches. He kissed her more until she was whimpering with desire. She didn't know how it was possible, but there was a new tenderness to his lovemaking that made her want to weep. Afterward they lay together in the soft afternoon light and looked at each other. She pressed her hand to the side of his face. "I'm afraid of this... it's so beautiful."

"Don't be afraid." He took her hand and kissed it fervently. "This is what I always knew we could have between us, my dove."

"I don't know if you realize what you've become to me, just since the other night. Now, with what we've done today..."

"It's marriage, Andromeda. Call it what it is. My dove has become my wife." There was an actual note of laughter in his voice.

"Do you even know what that means? You seem so cheerful, so playful."

"Why shouldn't I be happy? Something precious, something I dearly wanted, has become mine. Do you have any idea what my life was like? Always watching the others, always wishing that I could have what they had? Can you imagine what it was like to live in a family where I was never sure whether my parents would curse me or ignore me? How I longed for Hogwarts all through my childhood, only for that to be a place where I didn't belong, either? How I wished for adulthood, only to fall into a sort of insanity and discover when I awoke from it that I'd sold my life to a madman and a manipulative old fool?"

He looked seriously at her now, and she couldn't answer him as he described his childhood. She saw the agony of his youth when the only thing that had kept him from succumbing to despair was the green-eyed girl he'd adored. She learned how, after a time of desperation due to Lily's death, he'd worked with redoubled effort. Tears came to her eyes as she understood how little he had expected to benefit from his own sacrifices.

"You can't imagine, my dove, what it was like to wake in this house, to have a pure-blood witch take my hand and treat me kindly. I was already smitten with you because of our experiences working together. How could I fail to desire you last summer, after you came to my side and held my hand, when you did everything in your power to soothe and comfort me, when you smiled and treated me like a treasured family member?"

She felt guilty, humbled even. "So it's an accident of proximity that puts me here with you? I can't imagine why you would choose to marry me under the circumstances."

"Who else would have cared for me so tirelessly?"

"A great many, I think, especially if they knew marriage, even the sort of marriage this will be, would result. Have you stopped to count up the various women who worked to save you, find you, and bring you here? What about all the women who danced with you at the ball? Don't pretend that I haven't seen the owls you receive at least a few times a week, too."

He rolled on to his stomach and used a lock of her hair to trace circles on her shoulder as he looked into her eyes. "Then you know I chose you. Perhaps any one of those other witches might have done for me what you have done, but none of them did. As far as I know, none of them offered. I want you, my dove, and I count every day I've been here with you as the best of my life so far. You're the witch who has cared for me, you're the witch who has welcomed me into her life, and you're the witch who fills my dreams."

He returned to his back and pulled her close. It would be so easy to feel secure, she thought. She could see herself lying within his embrace for as long as she lived, but she knew better than to assume it was permanent in his mind. Suddenly she realized what it must have been like for Ted, knowing that he loved more than she did. Could she love so completely? It was how Ted had loved her. Could she make Severus feel as untroubled and at home as she had once felt? That part should be easy. He must realize how much she adored him. They lay together a little longer, and after a time it was Andromeda who rolled up over Severus and started kissing him.

They lost track of the hours during the afternoon and evening. They wandered to the kitchen long enough to put together a small meal, but returned to the bedroom where the effects of the nuptial charm seemed to still be in effect. What else could infuse such joy into the situation, Andromeda wondered. She wished this night would never end and lay contentedly in Severus's arms long after his breathing was slow and even.

The next morning, Severus woke before the woman beside him did. He had to think for a minute as he recalled the events of the last days. He paused to wonder if it was all a dream, but there was evidence in his face. He gently combed through her hair until it was more or less out of the way and searched for her left hand. Finding his grandmother's ring, he kissed it. He couldn't resist the urge to kiss her face and leaned over her to do that, too.

Her eyes opened, and she looked up at him and smiled. "Good morning," she said.

He smiled back and resolved that this was how he would wake every morning for the rest of his life. "And so it is," he responded.

She rolled away just long enough to stretch. "That was the best night I've had in many months."

"It may be the best night of my life, following the best day." He started kissing her shoulder, and whispered, "I have hopes that today might even be better."

Her arm came around him as she rolled closer. "I am eager to indulge those hopes."

They didn't rush, and after a while they made their way downstairs, where a glowing house-elf had prepared their favorite breakfast items. Andromeda clucked at all the work involved and praised Birdie, whose eyes looked between the witch and wizard happily.

They ate their breakfast quietly. As she reached for her guest's hand...her husband's, she remembered with a blush...Andromeda looked at the ring on her finger. "What did you tell Molly?"

"Nothing that wasn't true. I said that you hadn't gotten very much rest and that it would be good if you didn't have your grandson for a day or so. I also told her that I might encourage you to leave the house and enjoy a little time to yourself." He frowned at his eggs. "I worried that you might say no."

"I don't think I can refuse you anything," she replied. She looked at the ring again. "I'm not sure we should tell anyone about our new... relationship, for lack of a better word."

He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "There are some things I should discuss with Hermione before it becomes common knowledge."

Andromeda looked at the tea pot uncertainly. "Yes, I'm sure, and Narcissa would probably Cruciate me if we tell her before Hermione understands everything."

He reached for her hand this time in concern. "Is it not acceptable?"

"Oh, no," she quickly replied. "I just wish things could be different. I love my family, but I don't think they'll ever understand me. I also worry about the future."

"Andromeda," he said, a bit sternly, "I would like to enjoy the present, the most enjoyable present of my life, before worrying about that."

She was a trifle ashamed and looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Of course, you're right. I want to enjoy every moment I have with you."

His eyes glowed in that way again, and breakfast was essentially over.

"When does Teddy come back?" asked Andromeda.

"Molly is going to bring him right after lunch."

"That gives us all morning."

"It certainly does." His voice went straight down her back. She stood and took his hand, leading him from the kitchen to the stairs. He followed her, bemused, until she stopped at her own bedroom door.

"Andromeda, are you sure?"

She looked up at him and nodded.

"Because I remember what you said to me."

"If you remember then you'll realize why it's all different now." She brought his hand around her back and leaned into him. "I belong to you."

He couldn't resist the lips that were tilted toward him, just right. He bent down and kissed her. She kissed him back so hard that he couldn't resist crushing her to himself, lifting her feet from the ground. Severus carried her in this fashion the few steps to the bed.

A/N: Special thanks to go to Trickie Woo for beta reading this. Thank you also to the lovely readers who send me reviews. They make my day!